A trip back in time…

Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to travel back in time? Go to the past and see how things were?

How does a barren beach become a Forest? At lake Michigan we can see this as we travel inland from the shore.

The dunes at Lake Michigan are one of the few places on this planet in which one can do this without having to use one of H.G. Wells’ machines. They are a living story of how succession happens and vegetation is able to establish along a barren beach to eventually become a forest. As a field class at KBS our class could not leave the chance of visiting Saugatuck State Park to study the dunes. 

Very big stairs for a very tall dune system!

After climbing around 300 steps, we started appreciating the beauty of the dunes. One of the first things we saw was a blow out (where we got to have our lunch).  Blow outs are areas that erosion due to animal behavior (including us), wind and water action have turned back into bare sand with a few species. They are “islands” in the middle of the forest, that have been taken back to the first stages of succession.  

Blowouts give us a feel for how delicate the dunes are and how disturbance such as wind, rain or simple footprints can destroy it or seriously damage it.

 After lunch we headed to the beach, to start our journey from past to present. At the fore dune, the first stage and the one closest to the coast, we saw that the vegetation was mainly grasses. This is because the grasses have roots that are able to grab on to the sand. Together they reduce wind speed, which gives rise to the majestic dunes.

The coast along Lake Michigan, crowned by the dunes.

 The next stage of the dunes is wetpannes. They are areas of the dune that have sank, sometimes all the way up to the water bed, acting as a pit. The wetpanne at Saugatuck was not that dramatic, but it gives rise to the backdune, which is the oldest part of the dune, and the present. It looks just like a forest, with a lot of woody plants and giant trees.

As part of our activities, we had a scavenger hunt for common species at each stage of the dune in which we had to look for species like this panicum grass.

Once within the forest, where the vegetation dense and highly diverse, it is hard to imagine that you are still in a dune. It is incredible to think that all these plant and animal species are able to survive in such a hard environment like sand and are together able to withstand erosion. 

Would you believe this is found in a dune?

The dunes at Lake Michigan have been one of the key places that have led to the undrstanding of succession. Having the oportunity to see these and experience succession has been one of the greatest parts of our class!